documentary

Review: Untrapped: The Story Of Lil Baby

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Untrapped: The Story of Lil Baby is a documentary about how the Atlanta rapper built his rap career and the things he went through while building it. He went from being a prominent name in the Atlanta streets to the Atlanta music scene. For Lil Baby, his connections to the Atlanta figures like Young Thug, Gunna and Coach K of Quality Control all had a role in taking his name to where it is today. His documentary chronicles his journey through behind-the-scenes footage spanning from his childhood to visiting his neighborhood after making it to the night he performed at the GRAMMYs.

Lil Baby’s documentary is built around how other people supported him and their roles in his journey. Young Thug and Quality Control founders Coach K and P talk about how they believed in him as a rapper and as a person. Journalist Charles Holmes talked about how his background contrasted with Lil Baby in every way but they still had an excellent interview. Drake talked about how he is one of the biggest voices of the current generation of rap. Additionally, his Mom talked about how she always knew he was different from his peers. Everyone around him was rooting for him and that pushed him to bigger and bigger opportunities and experiences. 

Lil Baby’s Atlanta Connections Started His Rap Career

In Untrapped: The Lil Baby Story, we learn something surprising about the Atlanta rapper: he didn’t really want to be a rapper. He had an established name in the streets and with that came a reputation. Lil Baby was confident people already knew who he was and respected him. Also, He also knew the money he was making in the streets was quick and did not require the work that being a rapper did. Fellow Atlanta rapper Young Thug wanted him off the streets and would literally pay him to stay off of them. He saw Lil Baby’s talent and wanted to steer him towards that more. However, Lil Baby was more concerned with his reputation and thought it would be tarnished if he left the streets to pursue rap. 

Lil Baby regularly visited Quality Control, a prominent rap label in Atlanta. He enjoyed just hanging out there and knew the people there well. Founders Coach K and P saw something special in Lil Baby and wanted to give him a better path. They saw the fact he had a reputation in the streets was the reason he should pursue the rap career. People would already know his name and be interested and invested in the music he was making. Coach K and P told him once he got out of jail he could sign to Quality Control and that’s exactly what he did.

His Hits were Organic

Lil Baby’s song “My Dawgs” was the first one that really took him to the next level. In the documentary, there was footage of small but supportive crowds singing the song word-for-word. The song resonated with people because of the things he was talking about and the authenticity behind them. Furthermore, “Drip Too Hard” was an even bigger hit because it featured another Atlanta artist that was on the rise – Gunna. In the doc, there was footage of him and Lil Baby performing the song at different music festivals. These crowds were even bigger than the previous ones and were giving the same amount of energy. Seeing this amount of growth in such a short period of time was very motivational to see. Lil Baby committed to the rap life even though he was skeptical of it initially and it paid off.

 “The Bigger Picture” was one of the biggest songs in his career. In the documentary, there was social media footage and soundbites of people saying he was hard to understand. The CEO of Motown Records, Ethiopia Habtemariam, stated this is actually common with artists from Atlanta. This song forced these listeners to put this perspective to the side and truly focus on his words. During this portion of the documentary, footage of the pandemic was shown which included people marching/protesting while masked up. Lil Baby was amongst these people as he shot the music video for the song. He stated that he wanted to talk about what was currently happening across America. He also wanted to acknowledge black people dying from police violence is an ongoing issue. His own interactions with police played a role in the song’s formation too. 

Lil Baby Respects Where He Came From

In the beginning of the documentary there is footage of Lil Baby as a child with his siblings playing in his neighborhood. After that, it cuts to Lil Baby’s children and offers a shift in perspective. He states he wants to have a real relationship with his children since he didn’t have one with his father. Later, he discussed being able to help people he knows from his neighborhood and there was footage of this as well. Seeing him drive his sports car through his old neighborhood was inspiring because without it he wouldn’t be doing that in the first place. In the final moments of the documentary he says “I’m tryna show them youngins that it’s bigger. I’m living proof…I’ll never be trapped again” Lil Baby’s documentary is a testament to the payoff a change in lifestyle can bring. 

Untrapped: The Lil Baby Story is Streaming Now on Amazon Prime.

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Kanye West Documentary & Podcast Being Developed By The BBC

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Netflix has already given us the jeen-yuhs trilogy, but another documentary about Kanye West might be on the way. The next West wave will surely arrive soon, but for now, the rapper has been laying low. It was rumored that he wed Biaca Censori just months after his divorce from Kim Kardashian was finalized. Neith West or Censori have confirmed the news, but they were spotted this week with Russell Simmons enjoying Valentine’s Day.

Meanwhile, Deadline reports the BBC is looking to work on a new documentary about the Donda star. Not only that, but an accompanying eight-part podcast is also being considered. The outlet stated the tentative title is We Need to Talk About Kanye, mirroring the controversial exposé, We Need to Talk About Cosby.

LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA – NOVEMBER 24: Kanye West attends the Los Angeles Mission’s Annual Thanksgiving event at the Los Angeles Mission on November 24, 2021 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by David Livingston/Getty Images)
Read More: Timbaland Suggests Kanye West Should Perform At Super Bowl

Deadline described the documentary: “Unfolding against the backdrop of West aka Ye’s 2024 U.S. election campaign, and at a time when his anti-Semitic rantings and behavior have sparked outrage and a re-evaluation of his place in popular culture, the one-off documentary follows Azhar as he attempts to understand the complex journey that led the singer to become one of the most famous and creatively successful artists of his generation.”

The podcast will be titled The Kanye Story and will further dig deep into the controversial hitmaker. It has been assumed that West will not participate in the documentary or podcast. However, he is known to be a person full of surprises and may be willing to share his story. Still, there has not been confirmation that West will appear in either feature.

BEVERLY HILLS, CALIFORNIA – FEBRUARY 09: Kanye West attends the 2020 Vanity Fair Oscar Party hosted by Radhika Jones at Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts on February 09, 2020 in Beverly Hills, California. (Photo by Gregg DeGuire/FilmMagic)
Read More: Kanye West & Bianca Censori Spend Valentine’s Day With Russell Simmons

West’s scandals have resulted in a massive financial fallout. Although he has made controversial remarks for years, after he aligned himself with Hitler, things took a dramatic turn. His longstanding partnership with Adidas ended, and several companies stated they would not work with West in the future. It is speculated that the rapper is preparing for the 2024 Presidential Election, but he has yet to make any official statements regarding his participation.

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Run-DMC To Perform Final Concert For Documentary

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Run-DMC will be performing their final concert to coincide with an upcoming documentary. Speaking with Rock the Bells, Darryl “DMC” McDaniels revealed that they will be holding the show at New York’s Madison Square Garden later this year.

“Run-DMC is over,” he said. “The only way Run-DMC gets back together is if The Beatles get back together. Can that happen?”

NEW YORK – CIRCA 1986: Joseph Simmons, Darryl McDaniels and Jam Master Jay of the hip-hop group “Run DMC” pose for a portrait in circa 1986 in New York. (Photo by Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images)

“The final show that we are ever going to do is going to be at Madison Square Garden in April,” DMC continued. “It’s going to be the last episode of the documentary we’re doing. Run-DMC’s last show ever. ‘Cause it’s time for Run to go be Paul McCartney and me to be John Lennon. We done did what we could do.”

As for the concert, DMC teased bringing out Ice-T, Wu-Tang Clan, and more.

“The show is going to be like The Last Waltz by The Band,” he added. “We’re doing that movie idea. You’ll see Ice-T come and do a song with us. You’ll see Wu-Tang come do a song with us. Anybody can buy a ticket to the show.”

DMC also compared the documentary to Dr. Dre and Jimmy Iovine’s 2017 HBO docuseries The Defiant Ones.

“We’re gonna do it with Netflix or to the highest bidder,” he said. “It’s going to be a live production. Run-DMC’s doing The Last Waltz at Madison Square Garden. Who wants to pay $100 million to own it?”

The announcement comes after what would’ve been Jam Master Jay’s 58th birthday.

Be on the lookout for more information regarding Run-DMC’s final concert in the weeks to come.

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French Montana Says His Drake-Produced Documentary Is Almost Done

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French Montana says that his upcoming documentary, which is executive produced by Drake, is almost done. The rapper spoke about the film during a recent appearance on Hotboxin’ With Mike Tyson.

“It’s called For Khadija, that’s for my mother,” French explained. “You know she came out here and sacrificed for us. My father had left and she stayed, and she helped me become who I became, so I dedicated it to her. Drake is executive producing it.”

LONDON, ENGLAND – JULY 07: (EDITORIAL USE ONLY) French Montana performs on Day 2 of Wireless Festival 2018 at Finsbury Park on July 7, 2018 in London, England. (Photo by Joseph Okpako/WireImage)

From there, he reflected on the “culture shock” when his family moved to the Bronx.

French continued: “It’s a real immigrant story, coming from Africa — I’m from Morocco — to the Hip-Hop culture in the Bronx and really just being in culture shock. Not knowing English when I was 13 when I came. And just taking it from there.”

The autobiographical documentary will detail French’s experiences as an immigrant. French was born in Casablanca, Morocco back in 1984. He started releasing years of independent material in the 2000s, before landing a record deal with Diddy’s Bad Boy Records and Rick Ross’s Maybach Music Group in 2012.

French released his latest work, Coke Boys 6, in collaboration with DJ Drama, on Friday. Across 20 tracks, French collaborates with Benny The Butcher, A$AP Rocky, Kodak Black, EST Gee, and more.

He’s also released Coke Boys 6: Money Heist Edition, featuring an additional nine songs. For those, he teams up with Kenzo B, Mr. Chicken, LGP QUA, YNP Maine, Bando Gz, and more.

French did not provide an exact release date for his documentary.

Check out his full comments on the upcoming documentary below.

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Stan Lee Documentary To Stream On Disney+ In 2023

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Four years after Stan Lee passed away at 95, Disney+ has announced a new documentary coming in 2023 to commemorate the Marvel Comics pioneer.

Sharing the news on what would have been Lee’s 100th birthday, the streaming giant also penned on Twitter this past Wednesday, “100 years of dreaming. 100 years of creating. 100 years of Stan Lee.”

The famed comic book writer died in 2018 after being rushed to Los Angele’s Cedars-Sinai Hospital. His wife, Joan Boocock Lee, passed away a year earlier in 2017.

Becoming a leader in the comic book industry, Lee helped bring some of our favorite superheroes to life, including Iron Man, the Fantastic Four, the Black Panther, and the X-Men. In the early 1970s, he was named publisher of Marvel Comics and later went on to revolutionize the way superheroes were portrayed on television and in film.

READ MORE: Quentin Tarantino Slams Marvel, Says He Won’t Join MCU

Prior to his death, fans would often look forward to catching his brief cameos throughout different Marvel films.

According to NBC News, Walt Disney CEO Bob Iger spoke about Lee’s legacy in a statement shortly after his death. “Stan Lee was as extraordinary as the characters he created,” he stated, also adding, “A super hero in his own right to Marvel fans around the world, Stan had the power to inspire, to entertain, and to connect. The scale of his imagination was only exceeded by the size of his heart.”

NEW YORK – FEBRUARY 23: (EXCLUSIVE ACCESS) Comic book legend Stan Lee poses at the opening reception for ”Stan Lee: A Retrospective” presented by the Museum of Comic and Cartoon Art on February 23, 2007 in New York City. (Photo by Mat Szwajkos/Getty Images)

In a 2013 sit-down with the San Diego Tribune, Lee offered a description of his daily schedule at the time, saying, “I get up in the morning and argue with my wife.”

Referring to the president of POW! Entertainment, he added, “Then I get to the office and argue with Gill. Actually, it’s fun. I come to the office and there are always a million things to do.”

Lee left behind his daughter Joan Celia Lee.

Fans can stream Lee’s new documentary in the new year, though there’s no word on an exact release date.

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Boosie Badazz Wants To Direct A YSL RICO Case Movie

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YSL’s ongoing RICO case took the world by storm this year, with Gunna free but Young Thug still behind bars. Moreover, there have been so many twists and turns that it gets difficult to keep up with what happened and what’s speculated. Still, some within the rap game want to take that chance. Boosie Badazz expressed interest in directing a movie about Young Thug, YSL, and their legal battle.

ATLANTA, GEORGIA – DECEMBER 18: Boosie Badazz attends the Atlanta red carpet premiere of “Where’s MJ?” at Clark Atlanta University on December 18, 2022 in Atlanta, Georgia. (Photo by Paras Griffin/Getty Images)

Still, it’s unclear whether this hypothetical movie would be fiction, although it can be assumed to refer more to a documentary. While Boosie is often the subject of much media controversy, he’s found success on big and small screens through his team at Boosie BadAzz Productions. He wrote, directed, and produced Where’s MJ, which hit this Christmas. To elaborate, it’s a Black take on Home Alone starring Desi Banks, Grove Hero, his son Tootie Raww, Boosie himself, and many others. Moreover, special guests Flavor Flav and the late Atlanta rapper Trouble also make appearances.

While attending the film’s premiere at Clark Atlanta University, the rapper elaborated on his next move. After Where’s MJ, he told AllHipHop that he wanted to document what’s happening between YSL and the City of Atlanta.

“I’ll document it. I’ll shoot the film,” he said. “Free all them boys. I don’t want nobody in there.”

Also, the 40-year-old advocated for YFN Lucci’s release, who is also in jail due to RICO charges including murder. In fact, Lucci alleged that some of Thugger’s YSL crew tried to kill him while jailed in Fulton County.

Before the evening closed out, the Baton Rouge artist thanked everyone for their support and attendance. However, with the holiday season in mind, he gave a $15,000 check to Clark Atlanta University to thank them for their support of his film endeavors.

What do you think of Boosie Badazz’s plans to document the YSL story and put it on the big screen? Have you seen Where’s MJ yet and what did you think? Whatever the case, let us know in the comments down below. Also, as always, stay tuned to HNHH for the latest in hip-hop-movie crossovers and more rap on the big screen.

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Nas & Wu-Tang Clan Debut “NY State Of Mind Tour” Documentary

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Bouncing back from the pandemic closures, Nas and Wu-Tang Clan are currently embarked on the NY State Of Mind tour. The iconic Staten Island collective and the Grammy-award-winning rapper have taken their shows all across America.

For those who haven’t been able to attend, Live Nation produced a new documentary providing fans with some behind-the-scenes footage of the tour. It’s an eight-minute clip that shines a light on the relationship and camaraderie between Wu-Tang Clan and Nas.

NEW YORK, NY – APRIL 25: The Wu-Tang Clan performs live during Tribeca TV: Wu-Tang Clan: Of Mics And Men at the 2019 Tribeca Film Festival at Beacon Theatre on April 25, 2019 in New York City. (Photo by Steven Ferdman/Getty Images for Tribeca Film Festival)

The documentary largely features their show in St. Louis with the interviews detailing the importance of the Bronx and the trajectory of hip-hop since.

“We been through so much, you know, we live in a fast city. That struggle had a lot to do with molding us, you know? So a lot of times, we was listening to the music that was coming from neighborhoods that we came from, which was the five boroughs,” Raekwon says in the video. “So that became literature in the street. Then the next thing you know, it got incorporated in the music. So it kind of like transcended into other cities.”

Busta Rhymes also makes a cameo in the documentary as well.

Press play on Wu-Tang Clan and Nas’ mini documentary on the NY State Of Mind tour below.